


Little Wonders

by Lilyliegh



Series: A Family United [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, also this is p much a fic about zarc caring for a bunch of baby dragons, minor zarcray in the final chapter if you really squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-01-20 04:55:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12425451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilyliegh/pseuds/Lilyliegh
Summary: On his walk back from university, Zarc comes across a small, red dragon in a cardboard box. He can't just walk by the dragon though - that would be cruel. So, in a spark of goodwill, Zarc takes the baby dragon back home ... and somehow, the trend catches on and he adopts three more.





	1. YUUYA

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hunter13Hawkie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hunter13Hawkie/gifts).



> hi there, hunter13hawkie! i fell in LOVE with your zarc+dragons domestic prompt, and just the thoughts and ideas i had!! i hope you love this as much i as enjoyed writing it - i got to put all my fluffy thoughts to use (:  
> there will be four parts to this, posted on Thursday (the day the fics are revealed), Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - a whole weekend of Zarc and the Dragon Boys! i hope you look forward to it!

_Fuck._

Zarc looks down, teeth in his lips.

_Fuck, I can’t._

There’s … there’s a dragon – a small, red dragon no bigger than a small dog in a cardboard box on the side of the road. It’s no place for any animal, much less a young dragon. Judging by its small paws, it can’t be more than a few months old, certainly not mature enough to be on its own.

But that’s not what has stopped Zarc. No, it’s the dragon’s dichromatic eyes staring up at him: one red eye and one green eye, both watching him. They never blink, but instead shudder at the corners, as if the dragon were to blink for a second Zarc would disappear.

It only adds to the pitifulness of the situation. It’s a damp, dark day in the Original Dimension, clouds hanging low over the lazy city and blocking the sun from even peeking through. The only light comes from the dirty street lamps.

Warily, Zarc looks back and forth down the road. He’s not in the best area of town – deserted, eerie streets that haven’t been swept in years, buildings crammed together and towering over his head. Zarc shivers just thinking about any not-so-nice person coming by and seeing the dragon in the box. If a criminal got their hands on a dragon, what would they do? Torture it? Sell it on the black market? Use it in illegal underground fights to win money?

Zarc shakes his head. He won’t let something like that happen.

He drops to his knees on the damp concrete so that he’s no longer looming over the dragon. Cautiously, Zarc sticks out his hands with his fingers spread wide – just one hand, a gesture to signal that he’s friendly and means no harm.

Only the dragon flinches at the movement, and this time its heterochromatic eyes squeeze closed.

“Hey, hey,” Zarc says, “it’s all right, it’s me. My name’s Zarc – fuck, I mean, I mean no harm. At all. None.”

The dragon doesn’t move, and neither does Zarc. He keeps his arm extended and hand out for the dragon to sniff.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Zarc says.

The dragon only stiffens, pushing its small, red body against the dirty cardboard sides of the box. It doesn’t look like it’s been out here for long, though Zarc can only imagine the kinds of people walking by who would’ve seen the dragon. How lucky this dragon must have been to not have been picked up by some criminal.

_Blink._

The dragon’s eyes flicker open.

_Blink._

It’s … watching Zarc now with two big, shimmering eyes. Zarc can see dimensions and galaxies within the irises of the dragon. Carefully, he reaches his hand out a bit further. He’s got a glove on – a leather one that cuts off at the first joint of his fingers – that stops him from feeling the dragon’s scales when … it touches him.

He’s touching a dragon.

Zarc bites his lips to keep the gasp from coming out, so instead his face goes red with surprise. Pressed into his hand is the dragon’s face. Along his palm he can feel the bridge of the dragon’s head extending down to its nose. From there it tapers off towards the dragon’s mouth, gold in colour and smooth. He wishes he could pet the dragon and run his hands down its neck, but any sudden movement might frighten it.

At the same time though, Zarc is content just to lay his hand there. He can feel the dragon’s head move with each of its breaths. When it blinks, he feels it along the edges of his hand. This dragon, it’s so small that Zarc’s entire hand is bigger than its head.

_I’m Yuuya._

He doesn’t hold back his gasp this time, or the scream that follows.

The dragon rears back, eyes wide, dragging its long tail up to protect itself. Its body folds into a dirty corner of the box.

“Y-you talked, you did! I heard you!” Zarc points a finger, all semblance of calmness gone. “You can talk, can’t you? Can’t you?”

The dragon whimpers and pulls back further.

“You … oh.” Zarc’s hand falls to his side. “I scared you, didn’t I? Right, fuck.” He drags a hand back through his grey hair flecked with slashes of green, and then down over his slim face and gold eyes. “I’m sorry.”

The dragon doesn’t say anything, but through the slits of his fingers over his face Zarc sees the dragon – Yuuya, his name is Yuuya – relax. Yuuya’s tail swishes once across his body before settling down along his belly, where Zarc can now see two large, blue gems the colour of the ocean. Whatever kind of dragon Yuuya is, he’s one that can communicate.

“You … can hear me then, can’t you? You can hear my voice and understand me.” Once more, Zarc leans forward and extends his hand to the dragon. This time, Yuuya comes close at once, pushing his nose into Zarc’s open palm. His body relaxes, flopping forward on the thin, dirty floor of the cardboard box.

Zarc sees Yuuya give one violent tremor.

“You’re cold, aren’t you?” he asks.

Yuuya nods. He lifts his head and gives one, slow blink. _Yes._

Hearing the dragon’s voice this time only makes him jump a bit, but he keeps his hand out.

“I … bet,” Zarc says at once. “Yeah, how about you come someplace dry? My house is just a ways back there, and it’s better than out here. I bet you’re hungry too, must’ve been a while since you ate, right?” His voice tapers off at the dragon’s long, unyielding stare. “What?” Zarc says at last.

 _Who are you?_ Yuuya asks.

“Who am … oh.” Zarc rubs the back of his head, chuckling. “‘M Zarc, an entertainer of sorts.”

_An entertainer?_

“Someone who makes people smile,” Zarc says. “But seriously, what matters right now is you, Yuuya. If you don’t have anywhere to go, how about I …”

Yuuya pushes his head into Zarc’s open palm. He takes in one deep, steady breath and lets it out a moment later. _Yes._

It’s all Zarc needs to hear. With his other hand he reaches out to grab under Yuuya’s body and haul him up –

And Yuuya panics, wings spreading out at once, neck extending. Yuuya’s eyes are as wide as saucer plates, his chest rising and falling with each ragged breath he takes.

Zarc backs away at once, but he can’t keep the disdain from his tone. “Hey, what’s wrong? I’m trying to help you here –”

Once more, Yuuya falls back into the box, pressing himself against the dirty, rotting corners. He’s frightened, Zarc can tell. Any move he makes, anything sets the dragon on edge. Yuuya’s eyes follow his every movement as Zarc settles back down on the ground before the dragon, once more holding out his hand.

“If you freak out, I can’t take you home.”

 _Home ….?_ Yuuya echoes.

“Yeah, home, like the place I just said I was taking you too. I’ve gotta carry you, don’t I?”

Something akin to surprise flickers on Yuuya’s face: his eyebrows rise, his long mouth parts, and his forked tongue lolls against a set of small, albeit pointed, teeth.

_Oh._

Zarc chuckles. “Yeah, oh. Now c’mere, I’m gonna pick you up now. Don’t flap your wings at me.” Carefully, he reaches forward with both hands coming round to hold onto Yuuya’s body. His belly is inlaid with the two blue gems, but the rest of him is red scales up. There are patches on his legs, across the knees, where gold appears. The most surprising detail is how _light_ Yuuya is in Zarc’s arms. Despite the scales and wings, Yuuya weighs little more than a small dog.

With the dragon now tight against his chest, Zarc rises up. He takes one more look at the dingy box, considers taking it with him because where else is a dragon meant to sleep, and –

“To hell with it,” Zarc mutters. “C’mon Yuuya, let’s go home.”

Without another look back, Zarc takes off down the street. He’d come this way back from university, thinking it was a shortcut he’d rather take in semi-daylight than late at night. His house is just beyond the toppling towers of the east side of the Original Dimension; he lives in the centre of town, right across from big dueling arena that catches Zarc’s eyes the moment he’s out of the shady side of city. After all, how can he miss it: it takes up his entire vision, a massive glass dome floating above the ground and supported on all sides by tall, oval spires. It’s a behemoth that probably shouldn’t fit in the city centre, but it does – and someday, Zarc’s gonna duel there. They hold daily and weekly duels there.

“See that?” Zarc says, angling his head towards the duel arena.

 _Yeah?_ Yuuya says.

“That’s where entertainers duel. I’ll be there soon, on a stage lit up by the galaxies themselves. My name’s written in the stars, didn’t you know?”

Yuuya shakes his head.

Chuckling, Zarc adds, “I’m kidding, but good to know you’re so gullible kid. C’mon, that’s not my house.”

But it’s nearby. Just a head turn to the side is a not-so-impressive apartment building made of plexiglass and metal, arcing up to only half the height of where the duel arena floats. It peaks up at the top where the rich penthouses are; at the bottom though are the cheap condos where Zarc lives. He slips in through a set of sliding glass doors and immediately turns towards a hallway jutting out.

His apartment is just down that hallway, the second door on the right. It’s not even as impressive as the building.

“Welcome to my palace,” Zarc drawls, and he swings the door open.

It’s … messy. Very, very messy, with clothes and books and dishes in places where none of those things should be. Zarc kicks off his shoes at the front door and toes them towards the closet where several jackets, riding suits, and combat boots spill out onto the floor. Beyond that is a minefield of belongings he hasn’t bothered to put away. He can’t even put Yuuya down on the floor without worrying about the little dragon tripping over anything, so guiltily he begins shoving his junk to the side to make a clear pathway.

“I don’t normally entertain people or dragons, so yeah, this is what my house looks like.”

 _I’ve never been in a house before,_ Yuuya says.

“You grew up in that box?”

_I grew up in a basement – a room with no windows, and four walls and one door._

He really shouldn’t laugh, but a little chuckle tumbles out between his lips. “That sucks,” he says at first, and then tags on, “Sorry, I guess my place’ll be a little better then. Here.” Now that the floor is a bit cleaner, Zarc sets Yuuya down. He heads to the kitchen, a place that isn’t even big enough for Zarc to turn around in, and he opens up the cupboards to get a bowl for water. “First things first, you must be thirsty. Come have a drink.”

Yuuya does, shuffling over to him and around the textbooks that Zarc hadn’t moved aside. Carefully, he stretches his neck over the rim of the bowl and laps up the cool water.

Meanwhile, Zarc leans down against the wall, knees up to chin. “So, Yuuya … Uh, what do you, um, eat? Like … dragons eat …”

Yuuya looks up and blinks. _What do you eat?_

Zarc’s cheeks grow red. He really doesn’t want to mention his terrible college diet to Yuuya. Besides, one peek over his shoulder tells Zarc that he shouldn’t look in the fridge either for suggestions. He hasn’t gone shopping in a week.

“Anything, I guess. Whatever you’re hungry for, I’ll make.”

At this, Yuuya stiffens and bows his head. The two points atop his head – they must be ears, Zarc thinks – bend in half and point downwards. _Oh no, I couldn’t,_ Yuuya says. _Whatever you have –_

“Anything,” Zarc repeats. “Or fine, I’ll just make something for myself and you can eat it too.”

_Yes please, sir –_

“Zarc,” he interrupts. “Don’t call me sir – I’m like 22, kid.”

 _Zarc,_ Yuuya says. And then, teeth exposed, he smiles. The blue gems on his belly glow, and in the centre of them they’re _pink,_ like rose petals were inlaid into the gems. _Thank you, Zarc._

“Don’t mention it,” Zarc says. He pulls himself up to his feet and heads back into the kitchen. He doesn't bother checking the fridge because they’ll be little more than cans of soda and juice in there. In his cupboards though, he finds the basics: rice and a can of tuna. Zarc pulls them both out and presents them to Yuuya with a tongue-in-cheek grin. “Dinner.”

It gets Yuuya smiling even wider.

While Zarc cooks the rice and mixes up the tuna with some leftover chili oil he found deep in another cupboard, Yuuya sits in the middle of the floor outside of the kitchen. From time to time Zarc sees the little dragon’s eyes roam around the apartment, but Yuuya never gets up from his spot. Thankfully, at least Yuuya looks content. His tail swishes back and forth, as if by some miracle he _trusts_ Zarc enough to not eat him for dinner.

When food is ready, Zarc dishes it out onto two plates and carries them out of the kitchen. He doesn’t have a dinner table – normally he just eats at his desk while he studies – so he settles down down on the floor next to Yuuya and passes out the plate.

“You sure you’re gonna eat this?” Zarc says, eyeing up the plate. He doesn’t know much about dragons, but rice, tuna, and chili oil just … doesn’t sound like dragon food. It doesn’t even sound like people food unless said people are broke college students.

 _Yup,_ Yuuya says. With an eager lick of his lips, he drops his head into his dish and begins licking up first the rice and then the tuna. His pink tongue scoops up bites into his mouth. He doesn’t rise until his plate is cleared, and when he does it’s with a glowing smile.

 _That was – hey._ Yuuya’s eyes narrow. _You haven’t even touched your own food._

“My – oh.” Zarc looks down at his plate, still in his hand and untouched. He’d been so focused watching Yuuya lap up his food. Quickly, Zarc shovels down a few mouthfuls. “I’m glad you like my piss-poor cooking, kid. This is college food.”

Yuuya’s head rolls to the side. _College?_

“Never mind,” Zarc says. He looks from Yuuya to the space around the house that … Yeah, he really needs to clean if Yuuya is going to stay here. At this point he’s certain that no one will come collect a dragon that was abandoned on the road, and from Yuuya’s description of his previous residence Zarc doesn’t ever want to send Yuuya back there. That means he’s gotta get his house in order.

“Hey, kid.”

_Yeah?_

“You wanna stay here, right?”

_There isn’t really anywhere else for me to go …_

“Thought so.” After cleaning off his plate, Zarc gathers both of them and takes them back to the kitchen. He brings a couple dirty mugs along the way – might as well start tidying up the place if he’s gonna have a baby dragon here.

“Well, my door’s always open, and I’d love to have ya. It’s kinda trashy here, a bit of an odd place, but … you’re welcome to stay.” Zarc turns around, one hand on his hip. “I’ve always wanted a dragon, you know that? Pretty cool that I found you today.”

Yuuya nods his red head. _Me too._

With one more side-eye to the mess that is his house, Zarc says, “Come on, it’s late enough for you to go to bed, right? I’ve gotta study, and I bet you want to sleep. You must need sleep, right? Right. Come on.” He extends his hands so that he can scoop Yuuya up once more and carry him across the apartment and through the furthest door – his bedroom.

Like the rest of the house, his bedroom is a mess. He’s lucky he has a bedroom and not a studio apartment, though in his case the extra space just means more room for trash. The carpet is invisible under the sheets, blankets, and clothes spread out across the floor like a patchwork quilt. His bed takes up most of the space, forcing his desk to be pushed up against the wall with a chair he can only pull out a couple of inches. His desk is a sight all on its own, papers everywhere, sticky notes attached to any and all available surfaces.

“I live in a dump,” Zarc mutters.

 _Looks cosy,_ Yuuya adds.

“Thanks, kid.” Zarc runs his hand over Yuuya’s head. His eyes roll over to the bed, dressed in several fuzzy blankets and pillows, and his Em Uni dakimakura and –

He throws that across the room to make space for Yuuya. “Here, sleep right there, OK?”

Yuuya curls up into a tight ball among the blankets, tail wrapped around his little, scaly body. His head rests atop of his tail. He gives one little yawn, eyes closing and opening several times as his body seems to power down at once. _Y-yeah, sure,_ he slurs.

“Tired already, huh?” Zarc pushes up the blankets around Yuuya to make more of a nest; however, once the sides become too high, Yuuya slaps them down with his tail.

“No nest, OK.” Zarc backs off, but … lingers. What does he say to a dragon? ‘Night night?’

With a salute, Zarc mutters, “See ya.” It sounds so wrong, but so does anything else coming out of his mouth.

However, it doesn’t seem to bother Yuuya. He’s tucked himself back into a little ball in the middle of the bed, no bigger than a basketball. Within seconds, the rise and fall of his chest steadies to an even rhythm.

He’s asleep.

Zarc lets out a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding. There, on his bed … is a dragon. An actual dragon, one that can move and breathe and _talk,_ oh gods what has he gotten himself into? Zarc’s heart races at the thought of a dragon staying at his place. Is he qualified to care for a dragon? What do baby dragons need – food, sleep, shelter, medicine? Of course, Yuuya being here is better than Yuuya being out _there,_ but is Zarc really the best fit for a parent?

 _Probably not,_ Zarc thinks to himself. _And yet here we are._

He won’t let himself worry yet – not yet, at least. This was the right choice in any dimension.

Zarc reaches out, fingers tickling the smooth, warm scales along Yuuya’s cheekbones.

“Hang in there, Yuuya.”


	2. YUUTO

Zarc lies on the floor on his back, feet propped up so that his knees create a sort of incline that he can balance Yuuya against. Yuuya, in turn, leans against Zarc’s thighs with his long tail snaked back and forth on Zarc’s stomach. He playfully bats at Zarc’s fingers that tickle his belly, poking at the golden scales encircling the two, blue gems inlaid into them.

“You’re ticklish everywhere, aren’t you?” Zarc teases as he runs his hands along the outsides of Yuuya’s legs, and then down to his toes. Each movement has Yuuya giggling, a sound that Zarc never thought dragons could make,  _ but gosh is Yuuya ticklish.  _ He squirms against Zarc’s legs, tail flicking from side to side with each movement. He even laughs out loud, mouth stretched open to reveal his small, pointy teeth.

“C’mere, stop squirming, geez you’re wiggly.” At last, Yuuya breaks free from Zarc, and he arcs up towards the ceiling. His wings pop out like springs and stretch out on either side of his body. They’re bent upwards, pale and yellow with small beads along one side that mirror the colours of his eyes. When Yuuya is being tickled, those beads glow.

Yuuya flies up and around the house. Once Zarc learnt that Yuuya liked to fly, and that Yuuya needed some activity, Zarc took to cleaning up the house so that Yuuya could play around. There’s nothing special about the apartment other than it’s … clean. You can walk from one side of the room to the other – about ten steps – and not stub your toe on a textbook or knock over a half-full tea mug or slip on a piece of paper. 

As for the ceiling, well … that’s the decorating. About ten pairs of socks hang from thumbtacks attached to the plaster. It’s a toy Zarc made for Yuuya, something he could fly through or chew on or bat with his little legs.

Yuuya loves it. He brushes against the hanging pairs of socks, nipping at the corners of them. He doesn’t hang from them – he’ll yank them off the ceiling, as he found out the first time he tried that – but he clings to the top of the windowsill and stretches out so that he can bat at the hanging red sock.

“You like those, don’t you?” Zarc says, unable to keep the chuckle out of his voice. “I’m glad you like my toys because I can’t afford any better. But …” His voice lowers. As he watches Yuuya play around with the socks, a thought comes to him. As fun as Yuuya seems to have playing around the apartment, and as joyous as it is to snuggle and cuddle and tickle Yuuya, something is missing. Zarc’s a human and Yuuya’s a dragon, and they can’t do everything together. Zarc leaves for classes throughout the day, and on the weekend he goes to his part-time job at the movie theatre. During those hours, Yuuya is left all by himself.

_ You probably get bored all by yourself, don’t you? I wonder what you even do … _

Yuuya’s eyes land on him and he blinks twice.  _ What’s wrong, Zarc? _

“You ever …” Zarc begins, toying with the words in his mouth. “You ever get lonely here?”

Yuuya shakes his head.  _ You’re here. _

“Yeah, but what about when I’m not here?”

Again, Yuuya shakes his head.  _ You’re always with me, Zarc – you saved me – _

“Yeah, I know, kid, but you don’t have to be polite. Tell me the truth – tell me you’re bored out of your mind here, that you don’t like it here –”

_ I do like it here, Zarc – _

Zarc’s fist slams into the ground. “Tell me the truth, damn it!” 

Yuuya flinches, eyes shutting at once. He falls from his perch atop the windowsill and his wings catch his fall. He lands on the ground, folding in on himself until he’s little more than a red bundle with golden wings tucked on either side of him. Yuuya doesn’t raise his head, but his words come out, albeit mumbled from his mouth being tucked into his chest:  _ I guess, sometimes … it’s a bit quiet here. _

“Sorry,” Zarc says. “And yeah, I figured. There’s not really much here for you. Those socks shouldn’t count as toys, and …” His words flitter off to be swept up under the hidden messes in his closets, the one place where he didn’t clean. “I’m sorry.”

_ It’s all right,  _ Yuuya says, lifting his head.  _ It’s not like you … need to. After all, you saved me. _

“That doesn’t mean I can just leave you here in this apartment by yourself. I can do better than that. I can …” Zarc leans forward on his legs, toying with the hems of his jeans. “What  _ can  _ I do? Like what do you want? Do you want a toy, a friend?”

From across the room, Yuuya’s ears perk up and his head slowly rises. His red and green eyes widen at the words, which he repeats with a hopeful note in his voice:  _ Friend? _

“Yeah, a friend. You want a friend?”

_ But you … are my friend. _

“You can have more than one, y’know.”

_ Oh. Well …  _ Slowly, Yuuya unfolds himself and patters across the room to sit in front of Zarc. He curls his long tail round his body and holds his head up, eyes glimmering in the morning sunlight that even catches on his bright scales.  _ Well, I guess that would be really nice. I’d … really like that. _

At Yuuya’s words, Zarc suddenly snaps his fingers. He rolls forward, up onto his hands and knees before the dragon. He’s face to face with Yuuya – nose to nose, in fact, and both of them smile. “You know what?” Zarc says. “You need another dragon. Yep, let’s go find you a dragon friend. Let’s see, let’s see … um …” 

And he stops, his head dropping down as his thoughts catch up with him. “Fuck, where do you get another dragon?”

_ Another … dragon?  _ Yuuya repeats.  _ I’ve never met another dragon before. _

“Well you’re not the only one and you need a friend, and I need someone to play with you while I try not to fail my drama class  _ or  _ get kicked out of my work.” With a heave, Zarc pulls himself to his feet. He extends an arm down for Yuuya to shimmy up; the dragon then rests along his shoulders with his tail snaking down the opposite arm. Yuuya’s nails dig into his shoulder only enough to keep him balanced. Through Zarc’s white and blue pleather jacket, all he can feel are gentle pokes.

Once Yuuya is steady on his shoulders, Zarc snatches up his wallet and heads out. He doesn’t have a plan of where to go – the pet store isn’t gonna sell dragons, are they? – but at the very least he and Yuuya can go for a walk, get some fresh air, and maybe come across a stray dragon.

Outside, it’s sunny in the city centre and the light cascades and reflects off the plexiglass of his apartment, off the duel arena floating above, and off every damn mirror in this city. Zarc shields his eyes as the bright light assaults his vision, and under his breath he curses. Unfortunately, even when he pushes his bangs in front of his eyes all it does is make him blind and walk into a lamppost.

_ Where are you going, Zarc?  _ Yuuya asks.

“No-fucking-where,” Zarc answers. “I don’t know – you’re a dragon, where would you go?

_ Where would I …  _ Yuuya mulls over the question, clicking his teeth several times before he answers.  _ What about the park? _

“Why there?”

_ It’s an open field, isn’t it? And you could run and play and fly, and hide in the trees if someone saw you. _

Zarc suspiciously thinks Yuuya’s just trying to get him to take Yuuya to the park; however, it’s also a solid idea. If a dragon were on the loose, it would be hiding. The park has water and sun and shade, and berries to eat if the dragon were living on its own. There would be space for it to fly too.

“You’re looking for an escaped dragon then, one that doesn’t belong to anyone?”

Yuuya nods.  _ I never saw another dragon when I lived … when I lived by myself, but sometimes I heard the sounds of other dragons. There were more of us, I think, in other rooms or in other boxes. I was the only one put out on the road, but maybe later on another dragon … _

Zarc knows what Yuuya means to say: perhaps more dragons were put out on the street. And if those dragons were as old as Yuuya is now, they’d be able to escape. The best place to hide would be an open park, just as Yuuya said.

Hoisting the dragon up on his shoulders, Zarc leads the way down the street. At this hour, it’s busy even with the wide sidewalks; he weaves in between people out shopping or on their lunch breaks. No one seems to bat an eye that he’s got a  _ dragon  _ on his  _ shoulder,  _ but then again on the ten-minute walk to the park Zarc sees a few citizens who should’ve had heads turning with what they were wearing. Ever cynical, Zarc chuckles under his breath.

Yuuya doesn’t miss it.  _ What’s funny, Zarc? _

“Nothing, kid,” Zarc says. “Just thinking … how we’re gonna find a hidden dragon at a park? Like once we get there, are you just gonna start jumping around looking for your friend?”

The question gets Yuuya’s head lolling against Zarc’s cheek.  _ Well,  _ Yuuya says,  _ I guess I didn’t think that far ahead. _

“‘Course you didn’t,” Zarc mutters. For good measure, he curses under his breath too.

_ But,  _ Yuuya tells him,  _ I’m sure if there is a dragon at the park – and I bet there will be – they’ll want to play with me. _

“I hope so.”

He hopes all the way to the park, when they’re standing on the cobblestone path before an open, grassy field dotted with wildflowers. It’s a natural beauty of a place, trees sprouting along a half-wall made of rock. All around the site are flowers, butterflies, that disgusting natural beauty that has Zarc regretting ever coming here with Yuuya. He doesn’t like this natural crap anyways.

Yuuya does though. He leaps down off Zarc’s shoulders and floats to the soft blades of grass. His toes settle into the damp earth, talons sliding into the dirt alongside the flowers. The wind nips at his scales and wings, urging him to fly. In fact, just above the sky are a flock of birds soaring through the clouds. 

Something shoots out from the branches in a blur of black and purple. 

Zarc’s eyes see it first, a blur that couldn’t have come from any normal animal. No, nothing in this disgusting park is black and purple, neither the flora nor the fauna. Those colours could only come from one thing …

“Dragon.”

Yuuya blinks up at him.  _ You saw one? _

“In the trees,” Zarc says. “Come on.”

He won’t sneak up on the dragon in case he startles it. Rather, he approaches the base of the tree that he saw the dragon dart into and lifts his head. Tucked between the branches and hidden among the shadows, Zarc spots the dragon. With its dark body glowing from the iridescent purple markings, it’s impossible for it to hide its wings which, upon further examination, jut out from its back like treacherous spikes. It’s got the same baubles as Yuuya does, purple gems inlaid in its arms and wings.

“Hey,” Zarc says, raising his hand. 

The dragon stiffens.

Climbing up his arm, Yuuya comes to stand on his shoulder. Yuuya tilts his head to peer up at the other dragon. 

_ Hi there,  _ Yuuya says.  _ I’m a friend, I promise.  _ He stretches forward, wings spreading out to prepare for flight.  _ What are you … _

The dragon takes off, soaring through the skies. Its wings ripple with the breeze that tries to blow it away.

At once, Yuuya takes off – he’s a bit smaller than this dragon, but that only helps him flatten himself to slice through the sky and catch up to the purple dragon. Zarc expects Yuuya to talk and approach the other dragon with caution.

Yuuya tackles the other dragon to the ground.

_ Listen, I’m a friend!  _ Yuuya says.  _ I promise! _

The black dragon pulls away, teeth barred.  _ Let go,  _ it snarls. 

_ I’m Yuuya! _

Zarc hand connects with his face. Surely he should help Yuuya before this rogue, wild dragon  _ attacks  _ Yuuya for jumping on it. Zarc already thought his plan was bad enough for going after a dragon at a public park; however, Yuuya’s plan is far worse. He chuckles despite himself though as Yuuya tumbles off the larger dragon’s back. 

_ It’s all right,  _ Yuuya says, standing his ground.  _ I’m friendly, I promise – and he is too! We want to help you – _

_ You  _ don’t, the other dragon says. 

“I can hear both of you by the way,” Zarc says, just for the sake that he suspects that perhaps neither dragon realises that he can hear them. He might as well be a part of this conversation too.

The black dragon whips its head around, eyes narrowing at him.  _ Who are you? _

“Zarc.”

_ And I’m Yuuya!  _

The black dragon doesn’t say anything more.

“This,” Zarc says with a wave of his head, “is when you normally introduce yourself. So, y’know, come on, say something … anything.”

The black dragon curls in on himself, folding up into a little ball. It’s the same pose Yuuya took up when Zarc first met him. At that time, Yuuya had been alone, scared, frightened that anyone would attack him. That means … this dragon might feel the same way. This dragon must be worried too that something or someone will come after him, take him away, hurt him – god, what even happened to these poor dragons?

With a heavy sigh, Zarc kneels down on the dirty ground. “It doesn’t look like you’ve got a home, do ya? Well, I’ve got Yuuya here, and I’ve got an apartment, and … if you wanna come visit us, why don’t you? I think you’ll like it. Here.”

Zarc extends his hand, fingers outstretched.

It must be a primal instinct of sort because even the black dragon, once so scared of him, steps forward towards his open palm. It must mean something to a dragon.

Carefully, the black dragon presses its head into Zarc’s palm. Unlike Yuuya, this dragon has thicker scales and skin that are both cold. Its jaw extends forward like it has an underbite – a cute underbite, mind you – and because of the shape of the jaw Zarc can count the many sharp teeth. It’s more teeth than Yuuya has, and pointier too! In fact, even if this dragon were smiling it would still look more menacing than Yuuya when he tackles sock-balls.

And still the dragon has its head pressed into Zarc’s gloved palm.

“What’s your name?” Zarc asks.

_ Yuuto,  _ the dragon says at last.  _ My name is Yuuto. _

Yuuya comes bounding next to Yuugo and  _ leans  _ his weight in, not meaning to press his head into Zarc’s palm but instead to be close to Yuuto. The two dragons are side by side, Yuuya’s wings caught in the spikes that are somehow meant to be Yuuto’s wings. This time though, Yuuto lets Yuuya lean close. He keeps the contact between him and Zarc too. For a moment, it’s just the three of them at the park beneath the sun and moon, caressed by the wind, surrounded by the sound of the birds, and encircled by wildflowers.

It’s Zarc who breaks away first to stifle a sneeze into his hand – damn hay fever, this is why he doesn’t like this nature shit.

_ We should go home, don’t you think?  _ Yuuya tells him.

Zarc sneezes again into his hand and nods. “Don’t need to be here any longer, do we? Next time we’ll go to a beach or something.” He pauses, running his arm under his nose. “Yuuto, you said your name was? Are you … coming with us?”

Yuuto leans his head to the side, extended teeth biting into his top lip.  _ Where? _

_ Home!  _ Yuuya answers.  _ Zarc has a home for him and me, and it can be your home too, if you’d like! _

_ I’ve never had a home – _

“No pity story,” Zarc says. He sniffles, eyes watering from hay fever that is in no way attractive now. In fact, he looks like he’s tearing up over this. He turns quickly to avoid the dragons seeing him. “I’m going now though, so if you’re coming, hurry up.”

Just as Zarc turns around, Yuuya comes gliding up to land on his shoulder. His talons settle into the worn holes of his pleather jacket, and the comfortable weight on his shoulder is like the strap of a backpack. But then there’s another weight on his opposite shoulder that can’t belong to Yuuya – it’s too heavy for one, and for another Yuuya’s weight is on his usual shoulder. 

Turning his head, Zarc sees ebony scales sucking up the very sunlight around them. Yuuto rests on his opposite shoulder, mirroring the same pose Yuuya has adopted whenever they travel. Unfortunately, Yuuto’s nails are sharp and then dig  _ through  _ the pleather and against Zarc’s skin. He winces. Using his fingers, Zarc plucks Yuuto’s talons out of his shoulder.

“You can hold on tight, but don’t puncture me. It’s gonna be hard to explain these marks.”

On his other side, he hears Yuuya laugh.  _ You are coming with us, Yuuto! Oh this is great! _

It … is. If Zarc thinks about it beyond how he has another mouth to feed, he’s found Yuuya a friend. No longer will Yuuya need to hang out around the house by himself waiting for Zarc to come home. No longer will Yuuya be demanding his attention, pretending to be some grand entertainer like he was born for drama school too. Now Yuuya will have a friend to play with, someone who’s just like him.

A friend.

The weights on his shoulders are steady, up and down to the beat of his footsteps on the cement.

_ My dragons, huh? _


	3. YUURI

It's late at night. Starlight spills into the apartment through the open windows, bathing the floor in speckled dots like a disco ball. Yuuya and Yuuto lay among the stars, their scales illuminated and shimmering like precious gems. They're both curled up into small balls, tails tucked under their chins.

Zarc sits on the kitchen counter, slurping instant noodles from a coffee mug because none of his bowls are clean and it's not like cheap ramen deserves him washing a bowl. He dangles his legs back against the cupboard doors, banging his heels into the wood. It's a sound that blocks out the other noise, the one that has Zarc up at this late hour.

There's something out there.

He doesn't know what it is, but the animal is crying out in pain. At this late hour, the noise is loud, bouncing down the dark streets and off the dirty, decrepit buildings. It sounds like it's coming from everywhere, as if this noise is coming from  _ beneath  _ the city.

Zarc's teeth sink into his lip.

It is.

On Friday nights, there are underground dragon fights – illegal, dangerous, gambling games where young dragons are pitted against one another … or worse, against humans. It's a sick sport to even think about, and at this late hour in the slums of the Original Dimension Zarc can hear it going on. He can hear the cries of the dragons and the cheers of the gamblers. It's a sick party down there, all right.

At a particularly high-pitched squeal, the hair on the back of his neck rises. It's the sound of a hurt dragon. He knows it. He shouldn't know it, shouldn't recognise that pained cry for help, but it burns in his ears. He takes a long sip of his noodles, scalding the inside of his mouth in the process. No matter what he does, he can't block out the sound.

Across the room, it looks like the two dragons aren't faring much better. While both of them do have their eyes closed, it's out of fear. They huddle close together as they listen to the sounds of a pained comrade plead for someone to save him. How no one has come out of their house to investigate, or at the very least called the police, is beyond Zarc. Shouldn't someone investigate this? Shouldn't someone be helping?

_ What about me?  _ Zarc thinks.

His mouth sours, and he bites his lip harder. He can't get involved with the police – he doesn't have time for this. Caring for Yuuya and Yuuto takes enough out of his day. Besides, anyone else on the block could go out of their house and help. Anyone else could do something.

_ But they won't,  _ a nagging thought reminds him.  _ Just like you, no one else will get involved. _

It hurts Zarc, makes him chug even more of his ramen so he can feel the pain of the hot broth singe his throat. He can't sleep even though his eyes are sliding closed. His body is on edge from hearing those deadly, piercing screeches. The dragon they have down there must be terrified. Zarc himself knows very little about illegal dragon fighting, though he has enough street sense to guess: close combat fights, unfairly skewed against the dragon; dirty gamblers throwing money at skimpily-dressed attendants. Drugs and alcohol, the whole illegal shebang … and right underneath the Original Dimension's nose.

The dragon screams again.

Yuuya's head rises, his red and green eyes as wide as the moon hanging by a thread in the sky.  _ Zarc?  _ Yuuya asks.  _ W-what's happening down there? _

“None of our business,” Zarc answers. He chugs the last dredges of his ramen and slams the cup down on the counter to make a noise that might cancel out the wails. “You shouldn't worry about it – get some rest, in fact –”

_ How can we?  _ Yuuto interrupts.  _ That's a dragon down there, isn't it? He's one of us, and you expect us to …  _ Yuuto leaves the thought hanging, though his expression says it all. His eyes are small slits centred under thick eyebrows, and his underbite shows the sharp teeth in his mouth. He looks feral in the light now, as if he might just jump out the window at any moment and charge after the poor dragon down there.

_ He's one of us,  _ Yuuto repeats.  _ A friend, right? _

That's right, Zarc wants to say. It's been little more than a week since Yuuto came to live with him. Unlike Yuuya, Yuuto didn't take long to adjust to the apartment, perhaps because Yuuya was around to provide him support and company. However, Yuuto is a far wiser, far sager dragon than the bubbly, cheery Yuuya. When Yuuto talks, his voice speaks to the deep thought he's put into whatever he's about to say.

“Yeah, I guess,” Zarc says. “But hell, you don't even know the guy down there. I really don't think you should get involved in this – it'll only end badly for all of us.”

_ But if we don’t help, that dragon down there …  _ Yuuya raises his head to look towards the open window. If it weren’t for the noise, the city would be quite the sight: buildings aglow in hues of blue and green and pink. The starscape is brilliantly bold too, speckled like someone flicked paint into the night sky.

“That’s –”  _ not our problem,  _ Zarc wants to say. It really isn’t. But at the same time … it is. Whoever is down there is calling up to them. That dragon is wailing for a saviour, be them a human or another dragon. 

_ We need to go help,  _ Yuuya says.

Zarc’s hand meets his forehead with a loud  _ smack!  _ “Are you serious?” he growls out. “Fuck, it’s like – it’s two in the morning, Yuuya. I have  _ work  _ in five hours and I haven’t slept yet. And …”

The dragon wails over his voice.

Zarc’s shoulders stiffen. That sound, that plea for help.

He snatches up his keys off the counter. “Fine,” he mutters. “Get up, we’re going out.”

Happily, Yuuya and Yuuto scurry to their feet and head for the door. Zarc meets them there, pulling on his trademark pleather jacket over his university t-shirt; his plaid pyjama bottoms still show, but at this ungodly hour Zarc could care less what he looks like. He runs his hands through his tangled, green and grey hair, and then down over his gold eyes. God, he’s gonna be exhausted tomorrow at work.

But then … 

Standing by his side are his two dragons, two souls that he’s saved. In the limelight, they’re smiling up at him, showing their sparkly teeth; they’re eyes are alight with hope.

_ I can’t let them down,  _ Zarc thinks.

He hangs an arm down for both dragons to snake up, digging their claws into his jacket sleeve as they climb. They both settle on opposite shoulders like hawks on the prowl, their breath misting against his cheeks. Zarc can feel their tenseness in the way they cling to him; now so close to him, he can hear their pounding heartbeats.

_ Let’s go find them,  _ Yuuto says.

_ You know where they are, Zarc, right?  _ Yuuya says.

“I don’t even fucking  _ know,”  _ Zarc mutters, once more dragging his hands through his hair. He yanks open the door and kicks it closed when he leaves. At this hour, no one else is up in the apartment building. Once he’s outside, it’s a ghost town, with his only company being the moon in the sky and the god-awful screams coming from the underground. It’s no wonder that even the shadiest of people aren’t on the streets tonight: they’re either at the illegal dragon fight or hiding away from the noise.

Shoving his hands into his pocket, Zarc heads down the street. His eyes adjust to the meagre light the stars and moon provide. He’s not even sure where to look, but he lets his feet carry him deeper into the east side of the Original Dimension. If something immoral  _ and  _ illegal were going on, it would be in the downtown core.

Sure enough, not a few minutes later Zarc hears the wails more clearly. In fact, they no longer sound as if they’re coming from hell itself, but from a beaten-down building across the road. Rock and stone merge together as if this building was designed before modern civilisation; it stands out as some ancient site when in actuality Zarc supposes it’s a drug house or a club.

_ There’s someone standing out front,  _ Yuuto remarks.

There … is. They don’t look friendly either, a beefy man with a harsh face. He’s not one to profile, but this guy gives off a worrisome aura. Whenever Zarc’s seen such a cruel person before, he’s found they’re involved in all manner of illegal activity.

Zarc swallows. “That’s the place,” he whispers to the dragons.

_ I hear the dragon,  _ Yuuya says.  _ He must be down below. _

Zarc nods. Before they even get there though, he’ll need to get past the guard. He imagines this kind of activity doesn’t allow just anyone to come through. Then again, he does have two dragons …

Guiltily, Zarc marches forward. He doesn’t bother hiding Yuuya and Yuuto, who both lower themselves across his shoulders when he passes the guard. In turn, the guard does little more than raise one slender eyebrow and let him pass.

He lets out the breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding when he’s through the doors and into the building. There’s a dim candle providing just enough light for Zarc to see a creaky staircase leading down. The steps are made of both wood and rock, the latter appearing to patch up where there were once holes. Either way, it doesn’t look safe, and Zarc keeps a hand pressed to the wall should he slip.

There are several staircases leading down, each one rotting in a few more places and creaking more loudly under his and the dragons’ combined weights. No one hangs out in the stairwells. No, what Zarc hears are wails and shouts that become louder with each flight of stairs he heads down. The shouting gives way to chanting, and the wailing gives way to heaving sobs.

On his shoulders, both dragons shiver.

_ We have to save him,  _ Yuuya says.

_ Just … grab him,  _ Yuuto says.  _ If there’s a chance, just go for it. _

Zarc nods. He hasn’t thought far about what he’ll do when he’s down there; how can he plan when he’s not even sure what to expect.

The sight greets him all at once though. The underbelly of this building is, in fact, brightly lit and nicely decorated – far different from the seedy appearance above ground. There are clean oak counters along the leftmost wall where several people sit up at a bar nursing bottles and glasses of rich, amber booze. Across the room is a place where there are several tables occupied by groups of friends, drinking and smoking.

And in the centre of the room, where several people are kneeling down before a pit in the ground, is the fighting rink. It’s a steel pit dug into the floor with raised sides so that whatever’s  _ inside  _ can’t climb out. Over the heads of the thirty or so gamblers kneeling around it, Zarc can’t see what’s inside … but he can fathom a guess. The dragon’s shrill cries make his ears bleed and his hair stand on end.

There’s a hurt dragon in there.

Yuuya and Yuuto snuggle closer to his neck.

As casually as he can appear, Zarc saunters into the room and towards the dome. He pushes past a group of people who are only paying half their attention to the spectacle, and he settles down at the edge of the rink.

The dragon is in there. Its scales are a royal purple that would be quite beautiful were they not ripped out in places, exposing a milky, lavender skin marked with deep gashes. The dragon’s face is marred with two deep, parallel slashes down its slim cheeks. This dragon is smaller and slimmer than both Yuuya and Yuuto – it doesn’t look like it’s had a healthy diet or even seen the sun in ages. In fact, the dragon’s eyes are unfocused. The pink and yellow gems along its body are shattered and oozing a purple liquid onto the floor.

Zarc swallows.

There’s nothing else in the rink with the dragon, but Zarc knows what’s caused those scratches: weapons, dozens of them. All around the rink are gamblers holding knives and daggers; one of them has a taser, and she shoves it forward to press against the dragon’s neck.

The dragons  _ screams  _ bloody murder once more.

_ Help him,  _ Yuuya says. 

_ Get out of here,  _ Yuuto says.

But Zarc, for one painful second, can’t move. 

The dragon tumbles into the wall with a pitiful wail, smearing purple goo along the side of the rink. There is blood everywhere – on the walls, the floor, soaking the weapons that the people keep stabbing into the dragon, how dare they –

Zarc throws his hand into the rink, aiming for the dragon’s tail or wings. He misses at first, and a knife slices the top of his hand. He winces in pain, but doesn't pull back. 

He lunges again. This time his fingers wrap around the dragon’s front leg, and once he feels the raw, cold scales, he  _ pulls.  _ The dragon screams in pain, talons sinking into the same hand that was just cut, and  _ damn  _ it hurts him. Zarc doesn't let go though – he’s not about to let this dragon stay here with these terrible people, and he doesn’t have another second to spare before those knives and tasers are at  _ his  _ throat.

Zarc tugs the purple dragon up towards his chest and pushes himself to his feet. His mind goes on autopilot, unable to focus on the outraged cries, on the weapons that slice into his jacket. On his shoulder, Yuuya screams in fright. Leaning down his chest, Yuuto tries to make contact with the dragon he’s just saved, the one that wriggles free from his grip.

“God damnit, I’m getting you out of here, just  _ wait,”  _ Zarc snarls, bolting up the first flight of stairs. The slamming of his feet and the dozens that follow echo up the stairwell. There are people screaming after him, voices that sent shivers up and down his spine. Yuuya shouts in his ears to keep running – it’s the encouragement Zarc needs. He dares not look back in case it’ll slow him down for a tenth of a second.

He needs to run.

Fast. Far.

Zarc breaks out of the building with a shout, cradling the purple dragon against his chest. His feet land on the slippery asphalt, and he nearly loses his balance. Quickly, he rights himself and runs. He doesn’t care if he leads the criminals to his house – he’ll lock the doors if he needs to. Dashing down the streets, the only thing Zarc cares about now is getting behind a locked door and into his bedroom.

And he does. When he gets to his apartment he yanks open the lobby door and dashes down the dimly-lit hallway to his room. He pulls that door open too and kicks it closed behind him. 

_ Click. _

The door locks behind him.

And …

Silence.

The only sounds in the house are the quiet wails of the injured dragon cradled in his arms, and the deep gasps from his ragged breathing. Yuuya and Yuuto hop down from his shoulders, their sides heaving from their own harsh breaths. Zarc can’t even remember what they were doing when he was running down the streets back home.

Moaning, Zarc sinks down to the floor. “Fuck,” he mutters, letting his arms go loose. “Fuck, I …”

His eyes roll down to the dragon in his arms. It has stopped fighting his hold; instead, its face is buried in his chest, small eyes squeezed shut. The oozing injuries drip down Zarc’s ruined jacket and onto his pants. Zarc lazily wipes it away with his bloody fingers, then begins to tug off his jacket. He’ll wrap it around the dragon to stem some of the bleeding. In the bathroom he’s got a minor first aid kit, just some bandaids and gauze. It’ll have to do, he supposes.

The moment he moves though the dragon stiffens against him. Slowly, it raises its head.

_ You’re safe,  _ Yuuto says, tail flicking back and forth on the worn carpet.  _ You’re with people that are gonna take care of you. _

Next to Yuuto, Yuuya adds,  _ That’s right! Please don’t be scared of us – we heard you crying out for help. _

“That’s right … I guess,” Zarc says. He bounces his shoulder and arm to get the jacket sleeve off, and then tugs it free with his hand. “I don’t even want to  _ know  _ how you got there or what was going on, but you won’t be going back. You’re here now.” Zarc smiles, rustling the dragon’s head. “Let’s treat your injuries, OK?”

The dragon stiffens when Zarc reaches a hand underneath it.

_ Don’t,  _ it hisses, voice even. 

Zarc swallows. He expected a more timid, meek dragon, especially considering the cries he’d heard before. This voice though drips poison. The dragon’s lips curl in a tight snarl, corners as ragged as the edges of the broken gems along its arms and legs. 

_ Don’t touch me. _

_ But you’re hurt!  _ Yuuya insists.  _ You need help! _

_ I’m fine,  _ the dragon mutters.

_ You’re really not,  _ Yuuto says,  _ and if you want to live, you might as well trust that guy there.  _

_ That’s Zarc,  _ Yuuya adds.  _ He saved us, and then we saved you too! Trust us, you’re in good hands with him.  _ At these words, Yuuya’s wings flutter happily.  _ My name’s Yuuya, by the way. _

_ Yuuto. _

The purple dragon just sniffs in discontent. With a guttural growl, it pushes away from Zarc … only its leg is broken and it's in pain, so instead of landing nicely on the carpet, it flops forward with a pained moan that tears at Zarc’s heart strings.

“That was stupid,” Zarc mutters. “C’mere, let me at least clean up the blood before you get it everywhere –”

_ You didn’t have to take me home, now did you?  _ the dragon mutters.  _ I didn’t ask for this – _

“What were you asking for then?” Zarc says. He doesn’t reach out his hand, but he considers it. The previous two times, Yuuya and Yuuto came right to him when he held out his palm. Would it work the same for  _ this  _ dragon?

_ Nothing … _

“Didn’t sound like it,” Zarc mutters, but he drops the conversation. He drops his hand too, holding out his palm should the purple dragon step forward.

_ What’s your name?  _ Yuuya says, inching forward. He’s the most curious and bold of them, coming to stand face to face with the smaller dragon.

_ Yuuri. _

Yuuri, a dragon captured for illegal fighting. Yuuri, a dragon beaten and bruised and still valiantly fighting and getting back up, trying to remain strong, struggling –

Zarc holds his hand a out a bit closer. It worked two times before, it’ll work again, right?

At first, Yuuri doesn’t move, eyes narrowing at Zarc. Then, teeth in his bleeding, chapped lips, he steps forward and pushes his head into Zarc’s palm. The scales on the top of his head are ripped off near the ears, revealing pussing, ragged marks. It’s quite the horrid sight, but Zarc bites back his tongue and tries to appreciate the moment. Yuuri is touching him. Yuuri, like the previous two dragons Zarc has rescued, has found some sense of safety in him. It must not be much because the connection is so tentative that Yuuri’s forehead is a ghost of a feeling on Zarc’s skin, but it’s there.

He’s there.

“Now will you let me bandage you up?” Zarc says. 

Yuuri shakes his head, not looking up.

“What … what can I do then?” He feels helpless now. He can’t push the unsteady boundaries being formed from this tender moment, but if Yuuri’s wounds aren’t attended to, then who knows what could happen. He could get sick, the cuts could get infected –

_ Just … don’t move for a minute,  _ Yuuri says.

Zarc raises an eyebrow. “Wha –” Oh. He sees it now, how Yuuri has come closer, nestled his head into the curve of Zarc’s fingers. 

Yuuya comes closer too, at once brushing up against Yuuri. He’s careful not to touch the bruises already there, and he checks in from time to time to see if he’s invading Yuuri’s personal space. However, Yuuri doesn’t move. He stays right where he is, face smushed into Zarc’s palm. Even when Yuuto comes round to stand on the other side and offer his support and soothing presence to Yuuri, Yuuri doesn’t move.

And Zarc doesn't either. Even when his arm begins to hurt, he just lets the numbness be consumed by the warmth he feels from the three dragons so close to him, illuminated by the beautiful moonlight streaming through the windows. It’s a serene night out.

_ His dragons,  _ he thinks to himself.

They’re his dragons.


	4. YUUGO

Zarc isn’t even sure why he’s here. 

Nope, he’s not sure at all.

Before him in the front door to a little shop called ‘Rays of Light’, a dragon rehoming centre. It’s not much bigger than a candy shop, with a wooden door on which hangs a cheery welcome sign. In the shop window there are a couple posters about taking care of dragons and training classes, things that Zarc doesn't have the time or money for. Honestly, he doesn't even have the time or money for the dragons he does have.

But …

In class this morning a friend of his, Tenjou Kaito, also madly in love with dragons, was talking about a dragon with wings like diamonds. According to Kaito, the dragon was at this particular rehoming shelter because its previous owner said the dragon was too rambunctious and loud. Since being at the centre, the dragon hasn’t done well, tearing at itself and its cage, refusing to eat or drink, and always trying to escape. Kaito told him that he didn’t have the time to care for the dragon, and Zarc should’ve just agreed with him and moved on …

But there was something about that conversation that stuck with Zarc and brought him right to the front door of the rehoming shelter. 

_ I’m a fucking idiot,  _ Zarc tells himself as he pushes open the door.

Inside looks more like a waiting room at a doctor’s clinic. Right before him is a desk, behind which sits a red-haired girl with slanted eyes, high cheekbones, and hair done up in two ponytails. He can see she’s coloured the underside of her hair a soft, rosy pink; unfortunately, he chooses that time to scowl at the colour – his hair is  _ all natural  _ – and she sees, damn him.

“Excuse me?” she says, peeking over the desk. “Can I help you?”

“I, uh … don’t know.” Wow, way to make a good first impression. He shrugs his shoulders and glances around, trying to focus on anything in the room  _ but  _ the girl glaring daggers at him.  _ Let’s see here: three waiting room chairs, bulletin board with announcements about caring for young dragons, bookshelf with books about caring for dragons – _

“Well,” the girl says, “lemme know if I can help you then … I guess.” 

Zarc flops down into a nearby seat without another word, legs spread out before him. He toes the edge of the doormat with the tip of his sneakers, eyes downcast. It’s rather quiet in the rehoming centre – should he be hearing dragons, or people, or anything? The longer Zarc sits in this place, the more he begins to think he’s stepped into an area of the twilight zone. Even when he waits in the chair, no one else comes in.

Odd.

After what feels like hours, but is more like ten minutes, Zarc slides himself back up in the chair and peers around the edge of the desk. The girl is still there. The click-clack of nails on a keyboard is absent, but Zarc can tell that she’s so focused on her activity that if he threw a pencil at her she wouldn’t even look up until it hit her on the head. She also looks to be a few years older than him –

“Can I help you?”

Zarc jumps back in his seat, scowling. She was  _ just  _ on the computer – how did he not see her move her attention to him?

She’s still looking at the computer.

Oh.

This time he hears the clickety-clack of her long, red nails on the keyboard. She chews on her bottom lip, and then repeats her question for the dozenth or so time since he’s come here.

“I don’t know,” Zarc says, rubbing at one eye. “A friend of mine says you had a dragon here, one with diamond-like wings. I wanna … see him.”

Still not meeting his eyes, the girl stops typing. “So you do know what you want.”

_ No,  _ Zarc wants to argue.  _ I don’t even know why I’m here. I don’t even know why I want to check out this dragon, or why I came here in the first place, or why I’m even talking to such a bitch like you.  _ But yet here he is, in the waiting room of the rehoming shelter, talking to whoever the receptionist is –

“Ray.”

He blinks. “Huh?” Then he gapes. “How –?”

She’s standing directly in front of him. No longer behind her oak desk, Zarc can see she’s dressed to the nines too: a tight fitting, floral shirt under a crisp, rose-pink blazer. Her pencil skirts hugs her hips and stretches to her knees, where he spots sheer tights. Even though he’s sitting, Zarc can tell she’s as tall as him, and even taller since she’s wearing three-inch heels with flowers on the buckles.

Childish.

“You said you wanted to see the dragon, didn’t you? That would involve you, y’know, getting up.” She coughs lightly into her fist. “And as I was saying, my name is Ray.”

Huffing, Zarc drags himself to his feet. He might as well get this over with and at least check out the dragon, seeing as he’s already gotten himself here. However, he stops in his tracks when he spots that Ray, that damn girl, is looking at him – not just looking, but glaring, like she sees dirt on his face or something. Zarc wipes his mouth with his jacket sleeve just in case.

“What?” he says at last.

“What’s your name?”

“Uh, Zarc.”

She clicks her teeth together. “Well, ‘Uh Zarc,’ follow me then. You’ll get to meet Yuugo.”

“Yuugou?”

She looks over her shoulder, lips pinched tight. “His name is  _ Yuugo.” _

Zarc raises his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine – Yuugo.”

Ray turns around. She leads him back past the desk and through a door that he hadn’t spotted on the way there – the door blends into the wall, and when Ray opens it Zarc doesn’t expect to see, well,  _ this.  _ The room is much bigger than he thought it would be: an open-style playroom with chairs and a couch huddled around a coffee table. There are a series of shelves along the wall, and pegs nailed into the ceiling. Across the room is another door, this one with a little flap on the bottom.

But most importantly, there are dragons here – not in pens and cages, locked up and unable to fly, but  _ free _ dragons. They soar throughout the room, climbing on the furniture and shelves. One of them jumps from peg to peg with its long, frog-like legs. There must be at least a dozen dragons at this particular rehoming centre, all shapes and sizes and breeds. However, Zarc doesn’t see one that has diamond wings, or that matches any part of the description Kaito gave to him.

Thankfully, Ray is looking at him rather expectantly. “This is where most of the dragons play at – they’re all rather tame and gentle. If they need time alone, they can just slip through that door and rest up in privacy.” She pauses. “If you want to see Yuugo though, you’ll need to be in one of the private rooms. He’s still adjusting to life here –”

Zarc snorts. “My friend said he’s vicious.”

“No,” Ray says shortly, crossing her arms. “You must’ve misheard. Come, I’ll show you where he is.”

She crosses the room without once looking back at him, feet tapping first on the linoleum and then on the carpet. She takes him across the room to where there is another hidden door, this one tucked behind a looming bookshelf. There is a window on the door that Ray peeks through, and her face lights up in a bright, beaming smile, like the sunshine that slips through the wide windows around the room.

When Ray looks back at him, she’s scowling. “In.”

Grumbling to himself, Zarc slips through the door; she follows him, and closes and locks the door behind her. This room is significantly smaller, about half the size and meagrely designed. There’s a low table surrounded by two plush, evergreen pillows. A couple of toys and low shelves are arranged around the room. Then, across from where Ray and Zarc stand, is a carry container.

Ray drops to her knees and settles down on the ground. A second later she yanks Zarc down with her, and the two of them take their places before the carrier. Now that Zarc is at ground-level, he can see into the cage –

There is something looking back at him, something … big. A pair of golden eyes stare back at him; they provide enough light that Zarc can see the green glass of the dragon’s wings that are tucked around its silver, metallic body. The dragon attempts to make itself as small as possible despite being far bigger than Yuuya, Yuuto, and Yuuri. 

“Yuugo,” Ray says, reaching out her hand, “how about coming out to say hi? This is, um, Zarc.” She chuckles. “Let’s go say hi to him.”

Zarc sniffs. Even without the lighting in the room, Zarc can see this is a valuable dragon. Unlike his other dragons, Yuugo doesn’t have any glowing beads along his body. Instead, it's his wings that have Zarc enraptured: they’re wide, long shards of glass that must be equally sharp. There are even –

“Stripes?” Zarc says.

Ray turns to him. “Huh?”

“Stripes … on his tail.”

As Yuugo’s tail snakes out from the crate, Zarc sees several thick, black lines, almost like someone had taken a black permanent marker to the dragon’s scales. It’s quite a beautiful design, if he must say so himself. What must have gotten Yuugo in trouble wasn’t his looks, but his attitude …

Sure enough, not a minute later there’s a harsh squeal that reminds Zarc far too much of a pig or another annoying creature. Only such animals usually squeal once or twice; no, Yuugo keeps on squealing at them, body pushed as far back into his crate as he can. His noises don’t seem to affect Ray, who sits calmly at the other end of the room with one arm stretched out in front of her.

“Is he … supposed to do that?” Zarc asks after a moment. The squealing isn’t stopping and  _ maybe  _ that’s a problem.

“He’s scared,” Ray says. “Stretch out your arm for me, will you? Dragons like to be in contact with your hands.”

“I didn’t say I was buying him,” Zarc growls, but he complies and reaches out his hand. Just like with Yuuri, Zarc waits for Yuugo to make the next step. He watches Yuugo slowly but surely crawl out of the crate. He’s even bigger when he’s out of that cramped box – his tail is nearly as long as Zarc’s arm, the dragon’s face the size of a human face. Yuugo is just  _ big  _ overall, and yet he’s still crying like an infant.

His sounds still don’t bother Ray though. She keeps her hand spread out for him to carefully touch his forehead to.

The contact is immediate. Once Yuugo is touching, he springs forward on his hind legs and launches into Ray, burying his face under her chin. His glass wings fold into his body as he attempts to make himself as small as possible. The closer he gets to her, the more his cries turn into what can only be giggles – soft, breathy, and throaty sounds. Yuugo doesn’t stop wiggling in Ray’s arms until he’s properly held to her chest, his legs squished under him, his wings folded into his back, and his head tucked under Ray’s chin.

Zarc sits there with his mouth hanging open and wonders just  _ how  _ such a girl can be friends with a dragon? She looks like the  _ last  _ person to be interested in dragons –

“What are you standing there with your mouth open for?” she says, voice just a tad too haughty for Zarc’s tastes.

He scowls and shuts his mouth. “Nothing.” Flicking his head towards the dragon, he then asks, “So what … is he?”

Ray raises an eyebrow. “A dragon. A Clearwing.”

“I know  _ that,  _ but like … what’s wrong … with him?” 

And then Zarc prays she won’t misconstrue his words and turn them against him because it sounds highly inappropriate to be asking about ‘problems’ considering this shelter has to call itself a ‘rehoming centre.’ However, Ray simply shrugs her shoulders and adjusts Yuugo’s body, tucking his striped tail up towards his neck.

“Well he was given to us about two weeks ago – the owner said he was too busy and rambunctious, and that they wanted a quiet dragon. Whatever you see now, trust me: Yuugo is much, much more active once you get used to him.”

Zarc … can believe it, considering Yuugo hasn’t left Ray’s body since he came out of the carrier, and has been climbing all over her. His need for touch is extraordinary, and it even makes Zarc a bit jealous. This dragon … there’s something special about him. Yuugo would be a handful for sure, climbing on everything and getting into everything, but he’d be fun to have. Of the three dragons Zarc has, Yuuya is the most active. 

If he had another dragon in the house …

Slowly, Zarc stretches out his hand. He doesn’t extend it far, just enough so that his fingertips can graze the tip of –

Oh gods, the dragon is on him now!

Apparently Zarc’s hand being out was an invitation to jump, for now Yuugo is on him, nuzzling into his cheek, his chest; nails catching in his pleather jacket that already  _ has  _ enough holes and scratches in it. Yuugo is heavy too, a weight that tugs Zarc forward. He instinctively brings his hands round to support Yuugo, who has now climbed around his neck, not seeming the slightest bit worried about Zarc  _ choking  _ or anything.

_ Hi, I’m Yuugo! _

That’s a dragon’s voice. It’s not as high-pitched as Yuuya, not as solemn as Yuuto’s, and not  _ nearly  _ sarcastic enough to be Yuuri’s. It’s a unique voice, one that Zarc might hear from the cute barista that works at his cafe, or from a dorky pre-pubescent street kid who thinks he’s so cool. Whatever this voice reminds him of, for some reason Zarc feels his heart shift inside him. This dragon, like the other three in his house, is important to Zarc.

Yuugo, having successfully perched himself on Zarc’s shoulder and wound his tail around Zarc’s neck, looks up at him. Nose-to-nose with Yuugo, Zarc can feel the dragon’s breath on his cheeks. Yuugo seems to have even less of a concept of personal space than Yuuya.

_ Aren’t you gonna tell me your name? _

“Zarc.”

Ray raises an eyebrow. “Are you talking to yourself?”

“No,” Zarc says.  _ No, I’m talking to a dragon that can talk telepathically with me. That’s normal, isn’t it? Sure it is. _

Since he can’t talk to Yuugo alone, but he can hear him, and most importantly Yuugo can understand him, Zarc begins talking to Ray. He shifts Yuugo off his shoulders and down into his lap, where he runs his fingers along the delicate ribbing of the dragon’s glass wings.

“So … he doesn’t have a home?”

“No,” Ray says. “He’s been here several times. He’s sweet and all, just … a handful.”

_ Does she even  _ know  _ I can hear her? _

“Quiet,” Zarc says, and then catches himself when Ray gives him another look. She’s good at those judgmental looks too, her eyes becoming slits and her otherwise plump lips a tight, thin line. 

“I just said he’s not quiet.” She sighs, reaching out a hand that Yuugo immediately nuzzles into. “Yuugo’s been turned away by dozens of people because he’s not what anyone expects. He needs care, he needs attention, he needs company. You can’t just adopt him because he’s pretty and he has nice scales.”

_ And you’ve gotta take care of me, feed me, bathe me, let me have whatever I want all the time,  _ Yuugo adds. 

“You can’t just think you can come in and say, ‘Hey, I want to adopt a dragon today!’ without thinking about how much work that involves. You can’t just return the dragon a week later – I won’t let that happen to Yuugo, not after it’s happened so many times before.”

_ That’s right! You’ve gotta take real good care of me, let me sleep on your bed, let me eat your food! And I need friends – lots and lots of dragon friends!  _

Sighing, Zarc nods. “Look, I … know that. I won’t let that happen to him –”

“I don’t trust you.”

Zarc can’t argue with that. His hands fall on Yuugo’s shoulders, fingers pressing lightly into the joints there. On all of his other dragons, they melt under these pressure points, purring and –

Oh, Yuugo is the same. When Zarc’s fingers meet with the joints, Yuugo settles right into him, purring like he’s some kind of cat. His long, striped tail swishes back and forth along Zarc’s knees. Across from them, Ray watches with a touch of amusement on her face. She’s even smiling at Zarc a little bit, bangs touching her rosy cheeks and bright eyes.

“I have some dragons at home – rescues, you see. I, um, take care of dragons that need a home. When I heard of this one here, I” – Zarc coughs into his fist, cheeks burning – “needed to check it out for myself. I wanted to see what could possibly be so wrong with this dragon that he’d been returned – how could someone not get a chance to know Yuugo?”

_ You tell me,  _ Yuugo says to him.

Zarc looks up at Ray, a smirk on his lips. “I think,  _ Ray,  _ it’s because people don’t listen to dragons. We don’t listen to anyone but ourselves, even when we don’t think we’re selfish –”

She doesn’t budge her stone-cold expression. “Are you seriously lecturing me about dragons? I don’t even know who you are.”

Visibly deflating, Zarc says, “Well, fine, don’t listen to me. But … I’ll take him home. I’ll show you all the proof I can that I can take care of Yuugo – that I’ll listen to him and he’ll listen to me – and –”

He’s ranting, he knows it very well. The walls in this tiny, cramped room made his voice bounce off the walls and echo all around them, so Zarc can hear a mantra of his own voice. And through all the noise, and the fact that Yuugo  _ still  _ hasn’t stopped talking to him, Ray is sitting there, a smirk on her own lips. She looks far too damn pleased with herself, if Zarc can say anything about it – which he does.

“What are you smiling for?”

“You.”

Not the answer Zarc wants to hear, and he won’t indulge her. Growling, Zarc gets to his feet. He doesn’t let Yuugo go, though he supposes that even if he did try to let Yuugo stay here the dragon would only crawl up his leg to try and get back on his shoulder. He keeps Yuugo in his hands, and once he’s at the door, he turns around and says, “Well, do I get this over with now? I want him.”

“You don’t sound very serious,  _ sir,”  _ Ray says, but she’s smiling.

“Soft heart,” Zarc says with a shrug. “Whatever, but … I want this one here. This …” He can’t finish the words. Yuugo is nestled into his arms, cheek pressed into Zarc’s forearm. Despite how large Yuugo once appeared to be, he still manages to slide himself right into Zarc’s arms, making himself just small enough that Zarc doesn’t feel like he’s holding a pound of bricks. 

Somehow, Ray understands him. She gets up with all the grace of a goddess on three-inch heels and clickety-clacks out of the room. Zarc follows her back to the table, where she has pulled out a dozen different documents for him to sign. Zarc feels like he’s signing over his soul as he goes through each and every single one, initialing his name, writing the date, agreeing to give away any and all freedom he never had in the first place.

And after what feels like twenty hours later, probably closer to two hours, he has another dragon. When Zarc was signing off the papers and his freedom, Yuugo had been climbing up and down his back, still talking and purring at the same time. Now that they’re ready to go though, Yuugo returns to his rightful place atop Zarc’s  _ head,  _ tail snaking down his back and around his  _ neck,  _ and Yuugo’s claws in his  _ hair. _

“Yuugo, what are you doing?” Zarc mutters.

_ Balancing. _

Zarc doesn't argue with that.

Paperwork complete, Zarc steps back and shakes out his aching hands, leans forward and cracks his back a few times. Ray chuckles from across the desk; Yuugo must be making faces or something, or perhaps she’s just laughing at him. She seems to find him funny … somehow.

“Well,” she says after a moment, “I … guess you have another dragon.”

“I do,” Zarc says, trying very hard to remain cool and aloof while Yuugo balances atop his head.

“Congratulations.”

_ She’s mocking me,  _ Zarc growls.

_ I like her!  _ Yuugo says.

When she doesn’t say anymore, Zarc gives her a quick salute, using his other hand to flip her off behind his back. She salutes him in return. It’s the last either of them can say to one another.

This … is it.

Without another look back, Zarc heads out of the rehoming centre and onto the street. Walking with Yuugo on his head takes some getting used to, namely because Yuugo can’t seem to settle on his head and insists on gaping at the big, wide world. He spread his wings out, the sunshine catching on the pieces of green glass that reflect on the concrete. 

“Sit still, won’t you?” Zarc says, glancing up to Yuugo.

_ I am! I just wanna see all of this! _

“There’ll be much more to see,” Zarc says. “We’re going back to my place now. You can meet your, uh, friends.”

_ My, uh, friends?  _ Yuugo parrots.  _ Why can’t you just say that word – friends? You act all weird about sentimental stuff, don’t you?  _

“Whatever.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, Zarc takes the next turn. Thankfully the rehoming centre isn’t more than a couple blocks away from his mangy apartment. Zarc spots it around the corner, the building looking a bit dark around the edges from where the sun can’t seem to reach, and the area just a tad too quiet. However, Zarc climbs the steps with the ghost of a smile on his lips. He heads off towards his apartment on the ground level, and produces a small key for the door.

Before he twists the key and opens the door, he looks up once more at Yuugo.

“Ready?”

_ For what?  _ Yuugo says.  _ I’ve been ready for so long. _

Zarc twists the key and kicks the door open.

Unsurprisingly, Yuuya’s been playing around the house. Zarc’s textbooks have been moved across the floor to create towers that the dragons are jumping on top of. They chase each other around the room, leaping from book tower to couch to table to any other available surface. When they can’t quite seem to make the jump, their wings burst out from their backs and catch the air to help them glide. 

Zarc watches with fascination.

Yuugo, however, can’t keep still, not when there are other dragons. He vaults off Zarc’s head and through the air, crashing into Yuuri who’s tried to make the jump. The two dragons go rolling down on the ground, over and over each other until they crash into the kitchen. Yuugo is on top of Yuuri, and now that they’ve stopped rolling Yuugo grins down at the other dragon.

_ Hey there! _

_ What the – who are – Zarc! Who the hell is this? _

“Yuugo.”

Yuuri’s small, purple eyes narrow.  _ Yuugou? _

He’s met with a swift whip of Yuugo’s tail in his face. It doesn’t seem to do much damage, but Yuuri bristles at the contact and launches forward. His teeth nearly connect with Yuugo’s striped tail before Yuuto is there to intervene, pulling Yuugo off Yuuri using his mouth and front paws. From across the room Zarc watches them, trying not to think about the many, many mistakes he’s made. He thought his dragons would all get along well, but then again, that’s a tall order.

Whirling around, Yuugo says,  _ Hey! Who are you? Another dragon? _

_ Yuuto – my name’s Yuuto, and you’d do well not to piss Yuuri off.  _

_ The name’s Yuugo – _

_ We heard – _

_ Yuuri – _

_ My name’s Yuuya! _

Zarc chuckles. Surprisingly, it gets all four of his dragons’ attentions: they turn back to face him with their wide, sparkling eyes, appearing to have forgotten whatever they were bickering about. In fact, they all look quite … cosy. Yuugo’s long tail is wrapped around Yuuri’s shoulder. Yuuto and Yuuri and standing close to one another. In fact, Yuuya’s pressed against Yuugo too, and Yuuto’s been shuffling back to stand next to Yuuri. They’re like his family, his children –

_ What are you staring at?  _ Yuuri mutters. 

Zarc feels his lips tug in a smile, one that’s replicated by all for the of the dragons – his dragons. He’s saved them all, brought them together in his mess of a house. They’re a family of sorts, whatever Zarc can call a home with a human and four dragons. They’re … something.

Something special.

And they’re together.

That’s really all Zarc needs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TA-DA everyone! i hope you've enjoyed it! let me know what you thought in the comments!  
> there probably won't be a sequel to this, but i have two Yuuya Week prompts that i desperately need to write, so maybe i'll have some more cute zarc + yu-boys stuff!
> 
> thank you everyone for reading!! <333  
> \- Lily-liegh


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